Quality (Upgrade)

From Blades in the Dark Rulebood Copyright © 2017 John Harper. All rights reserved.

Each upgrade improves the quality rating of all the PCs’ items of that type, beyond the quality established by the crew’s Tier and fine items. You can improve the quality of Documents, Gear (covers Burglary Gear and Climbing Gear), Arcane Implements, Subterfuge Supplies, Tools (covers Demolitions Tools and Tinkering Tools), and Weapons.

So, if you are Tier 0, with fine lockpicks (+1) and the Quality upgrade for gear (+1), you could contend equally with a Tier II quality lock.